The purpose of our research project is to explore how children learn to read and spell words. We have proposed a theory of printed word learning to guide our work. Our studies are designed to test various aspects of this theory. According to the theory, printed word learning entails multiple component processes. Children must acquire general knowledge of orthography as a speech-mapping system. Such knowledge is needed to store orthographic images of words in memory and to amalgamate these with their phonological, syntactic and semantic identities. Several interlocking goals characterize our research: to identify the course of acquisition of general print-speech knowledge; to study how this influences the learning of specific printed words; to determine the specific mechanism for retaining spellings in memory; to clarify the nature of orthographic images; to determine how variations in word learning experiences influence what is remembered about words; and to explore whether there are individual differences in the way printed words are processed and remembered.